A Round Unvarnished Tale
by DianeB
Summary: Angel Bright, now 47, remembers that summer at Camp Little Wolf. It changed her life in a significant way, but not in the way everyone believed. /Who could forget this classic movie, with Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol?/


Title: A Round Unvarnished Tale  
Author: DianeB  
Rating: PG-13  
Pairing: Angel/Ferris

Summary: Angel Bright, now 47, remembers that summer at Camp Little Wolf. It changed her life in a significant way, but not in the way everyone had believed, even after the smokescreen of "the virginity bet" had been cleared.

Author's Note: I first saw _Little Darlings_ when it came out in 1980, and though I was older than fifteen at the time, I thought it was a remarkable coming-of-age movie, and the outcome affected me deeply. Even now, I think the message hasn't lost any of its original significance, even if the fashion sense has.

However, in re-watching this film the other day, it occurred to me how easy it would be to write an AU fic, based on something that was said early in the movie. Watching from my particular point of view here in 2012, I'm surprised there haven't been _more_ like this. That said, please keep in mind this is not only fanfiction, but _AU_ to boot. Written in April, 2012. Thanks, as always, goes to Brenda, my Mighty Editor Goddess. This is my first _Little Darlings_ story.

This was written in memory of Alexa Kenin, who played the book-reading, Shakespeare-quoting Dana. Alexa died in her Manhattan apartment in 1985, at age 23.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of _Little Darlings_. I'm only having fun with a movie I thought was great at the time, and _still_ think is pretty great!

* * *

Angel smiled to herself as she addressed the next card in the pile. Every year she spent several hours addressing Christmas cards to people from a specific time in her past, people who for the most part she hadn't heard from since she'd been _living_ that past, but it really didn't matter. It was the process of writing the cards that gave her all the pleasure; in fact, if anyone had ever responded (aside from Carrots and Sunshine, of course), she would've fallen over from shock.

So, no. No response was ever expected or necessary from any of the dozen or so people she sent holiday cards to. It was the memories this card-writing ritual evoked that Angel looked forward to.

_The bus had barely gone twenty miles before the driver, Mr. Lido, decided the girls desperately needed a break and stopped at the next rest stop._

_In the bathroom, the initial condemnation about her and Ferris both being virgins had come from Cinder, of course. But until Cinder said the word "lezzie," it had never occurred to Angel that she could be one, though the idea didn't seem all that distasteful, especially since Angel had always seen guys as nothing but pains in the ass. Unfortunately, when Cinder wouldn't let up with her bullying, sneering that Angel was "into girls," Angel had admitted out loud her opinion of the opposite sex, and it had only sent Cinder into fits of overblown hysterics, screaming about how Angel had tried to grab her tit when all Angel had done was push the girl away._

_It didn't help that Ferris had wasted no time in confirming her own status as straight, which only gave Angel a reason to hate her, as if she didn't already hate Ferris for her stuck-up attitude and obvious wealth, in her perfectly-tailored white outfit with the absurd cap._

Angel was brought out of her reverie by an insistent scratching and whining at the back door and took the opportunity not only to let the dog in, but to get herself a soda. In returning to the desk with her drink, she stood there, shuffling through the pile of cards already addressed, stopping at the one addressed not to Dana Anderson, but to the American Cancer Society. No one had ever been able to discover the cause of Dana's death in her apartment all those years ago, but since Angel's mother had died of breast cancer, Angel sent a Christmas card and a donation to the ACS in Dana's name every year. It wasn't nearly enough, but it helped ease the pain of loss just a little.

Dropping into the chair, Angel opened the soda can, took a long swallow, and then reached down to pet the retriever mix now sprawled at her feet under the desk. Picking up another envelope and tapping its edge against the table, Angel looked at the address. This was to Sunshine Walker, who was still a good friend. Sunshine had been the first one to learn the real truth of what had happened that summer at Little Wolf.

_Camp life, despite the stupid bet, turned out to be almost enjoyable. It hardly ever rained, and most days were spent either in the canoes and paddle boats on the lake, on the trampoline, or slaughtering Ferris's team in softball. Penelope, who'd managed to convince the counselor to let her stay in the older girls' cabin, turned out to be an ace umpire, never mind being small enough to fit through the transom of the gas station's men's room._

_The camp food wasn't bad, either, but the food _fights_ were positively epic. Clean-up had always taken longer than expected, resulting in missed free time, and had come with the usual pleading and promises to Little Wolf's Director, Mary Nichols, that it would never, ever happen again. But in the end, every awful mess in the dining hall had been well worth it._

_Out of the blue and just by the skin of her teeth, Ferris had managed to keep them all from being busted about the bet by telling the too-curious coach, Gary Callahan, that it was a "biology experiment." If only any of them had known just what kind of biological experiment it turned out to be. But in the meantime, Ferris had made her decision about who she'd be using to win the bet._

After taking another drink, Angel addressed the dog. "Barnaby, what do you suppose Cinder would've done if she'd known, huh? She certainly knows _now_, but back then, woo-boy, it would've been a scandal even her precious residual check couldn't cover, huh, boy?" Angel leaned over and gave him a hearty thump, and the dog went belly up, paws waving in the air. She scratched his underside with enthusiasm until Barnaby's eyes began to glaze over with ecstasy. "Oh, what a hard life you have!" Still scratching the dog, who would've started purring if he'd only been able to figure out how, Angel continued with her annual journey into the past.

_After getting square with Randy about the bet and the fact that she'd lied to the girls and lost on purpose, Angel was not about to return to the _Pirates of Penzance _rehearsal, and instead headed for the tire swings at the edge of the woods for a smoke. She was surprised to see Ferris there, but felt no animosity toward her. Clearly, Ferris had had a far different experience than had Angel, and understanding how Ferris could've ever seen sex as the fairy-tale romance she had described was beyond Angel's imagining, except to say that the coach must have been _some_ lover._

_So, of course, it was a shock to Angel when Ferris confessed that Gary had never touched her, much less had sex with her, which meant….which meant…she and Randy…..well, it meant that sex was no casual thing, no sparkly romance, no "no big deal," as her mother had said. Sex was complicated, messy, and full of emotions that could knock your socks off and change your life forever._

_And then came the biggest shock of all, the one that had sent Angel's heart into overdrive, beating far faster than it had with Randy in the boathouse._

_Ferris had come off the swing, walked slowly over to Angel and knelt down in front of her. Without a sound, she had gently taken Angel's hand, placed a kiss in the center of her palm, and looked up directly into Angel's eyes. Angel would never forget the raw emotion she saw on Ferris's face, the yearning and longing that Angel knew was apparent on her own face. Angel's world spiraled down to the tears filling Ferris's crystal-blue eyes and the feel of Ferris's hand in hers. It was at once both exhilarating and frightening, and the only thought in Angel's head was the most ridiculous thought of all: Cinder had been right._

_To this day, Angel had never been sure who leaned forward first, but before she could grasp the reality of what was about to happen, there, right there on the swings at the edge of the woods, with their camp-mates singing "Climbing Over Rocky Mountain" in the distance, she and Ferris Whitney touched lips, and Angel knew nothing could be the same again._

_That first kiss was chaste and quick, but the second one was decidedly _not_. Angel stood, brought Ferris up with her, and put her arms around Ferris, using skills she had learned from Randy to kiss Ferris the way Ferris had described Gary kissing _her_._

_That she had been marginally successful was evident in the way Ferris molded her taller body to Angel's and moaned down her throat. With great effort (and because she needed a breath), Angel broke the kiss and leaned away with an air of mock annoyance. "I thought you said you were straight."_

_Ferris smiled and Angel felt her shift in her arms. "Well, I _am – _er, no, I guess I'm bi," Ferris said, after a moment's consideration, "but the one thing I realized – after realizing what idiots we both were – was that you can't force love and you can't really choose _who_ you'll love. I think I started liking you when you nailed me with the softball, but even _I_ knew it wouldn't be a good idea to share that with you. What about you?"_

_Angel knew it'd be stupid to hold anything back, so she went for it. "Okay, here's the thing. I honestly never thought about it one way or the other until Cinder called us lezzies in the bathroom, ya know? But this? This right now?" Even though they were already close together, Angel pulled Ferris closer. "Um…this feels better to me than, you know, than what…what Randy and I…" Angel swallowed against the lump in her throat, struggling to make herself clear before Ferris "freaked out," as Sunshine was always saying. Swallowing again, she tried for the smart-ass tone she had used earlier after she'd admitted to Ferris that she'd had sex with Randy. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"_

_Ferris smiled warmly, shook her head, and brought her hand up to smooth Angel's feathered hair. "No, Angel. I think you're beautiful." As she leaned down to kiss Angel again, Angel marveled to herself at the way the same words uttered by two different people could have such profoundly different meanings. _Oh day and night_, she caught herself thinking, _but this is wondrous strange_!_

_She would talk later to Dana about the Shakespeare._

_The two girls spent a few more minutes together before deciding it was time to come clean to Miss Nichols about the virginity bet and to tell Cinder just where she could stick her residual check. The rest, well, the rest could wait for another time._

Again Angel was brought out of her reverie, this time by the sound of a key in the front door. Barnaby scrambled to his feet, desperate to get to the door before it opened, so he could properly greet the people coming in, and Angel followed him into the front hallway.

"Hey, guys," Angel said, smiling at the two people entering the house, "how was the movie?"

"Momma," said a 15-year-old girl, dressed in jeans and handmade, tie-dyed t-shirt (a birthday gift from Sunshine), "it was _fantastic_, almost exactly like the book, except they made some changes to a couple characters—Barnaby, look out! Anyway, it was awesome. Mom said she thinks you'd like it, and she'd be willing to see it again if ya wanna go sometime."

"Oh, she would, would she?" Angel smiled at the woman who'd become her life partner and the mother of her daughter. In perfect imitation of something that had been done to her on a day long ago on a swing, Angel took the woman's hand and placed a kiss into the center of her palm. "Well, Ferris Whitney-Bright, what're you doing this evening?"

End.


End file.
